4  F.  6  :  &3 


S.  R.  A.— B.  S.  43.  Septemtx  r  LO,  1921. 

United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 

NIV.  OF  Fi- LIB; 

MEN  is  J^   ^^  ^F  BIOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 


f 


Nelson,  Cfi  uf  of  Bureau. 


U.S  gg^g$:Qirfo_  REGULATORY  ANNOUNCEMENTS. 


REGULATIONS  FOR  THE  PROTECTION  OF  LAND  FUR-BEARING  ANIMALS 

IN  ALASKA. 

The  act  of  May  31.  1920,  entitled  "An  act  making  appropriations 
for  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 
1921 "  (41  Stat.,  694,  at  pp.  716-717),  conferred  upon  the  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  the  powers  and  duties  theretofore  conferred  upon  the 
Secretary  of  Commerce,  by  law,  proclamations,  or  Executive  orders, 
with  respect  to  any  mink,  marten,  beaver,  land  otter,  muskrat,  fox, 
wolf,  wolverine,  weasel,  or  other  land  fur-bearing  animal  in  Alaska. 

Section  1956  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  as  amended  by  section  173 
of  the  act  of  March  3,  1S99  (30  Stat.,  1253),  and  by  section  4  of  the 
act  of  April  21,  1910  (36  Stat,,  326-327),  provides  that— 

No  person  shall  kill  any  otter,  mink,  marten,  sable,  or  fur  seal,  or  other  fur-bearing 
animal,  within  the  limits  of  Alaska  Territory  or  in  the  waters  thereof;  and  every  person 
guilty  thereof  shall,  for  each  offense,  be  fined,  not  less  than  two  hundred  nor  more  than 
one  thousand  dollars  or  imprisoned  hot  more  than  six  months,  or  both ;  and  all  vessels, 
their  tackle,  apparel,  furniture,  and  cargo  found  engaged  in  violation  of  this  section 
shall  be  forfeited;  but  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  shall  have  power  to 
authorize  the  killing  of  any  such  mink,  marten,  sable,  fur  seal,  or  other  fur-bearing 
animal  under  such  regulations  a-  he  may  prescribe;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  to  prevent  the  killing  of  any  fur  seal  except  as 
authorized  by  law  and  to  provide  for  the  execution  of  the  provisions  of  thi.  section 
until  it  is  otherwise  provided  by  law. 

Pursuant  to  the  authority  conferred  upon  the  Secretary  of  Agricul- 
ture under  the  aforesaid  acts  of  Congress,  the  following  regulations 
effective  September  1,  1921,  are  prescribed  to  govern  the  killing  of 
land  fur-bearing  animals  in  Alaska : 

REGULATION   1.— DISTRICTS. 

The  climatic  and  physiographic  features  of  different  part.-.  01  Alaska  vary  bo  greatly 
that  in  order  to  serve  the  convenience  of  trappers  and  the  cause  of  conservation  with 
justice  it  has  been  deemed  advisable  to  divide  the  Territory  into  three  distri  I 
each  of  which  the  conditions  relating  to  fur  are  comparatively  uniform.     These  dis- 
tricts are  shown  in  the  accompanying  map  and  may  be  described  a^  folio* 

District  1  includes  the  A  eutian  Islands,  Alaska  Peninsula  and  neighboring  i-i 
and  Southeastern  Ala-ka.  mainland  and  islands;  from  Yakutat  Lay  to  Dixon  Entrance. 

65656—21 


BUREAU    OF   BIOLOGICAL   SURVEY. 


IS.  R.  A. 


District  2  includes  the  mainland  and  islands  from  Yakutat  Bay,  Gulf  of  Alaska, 
Iliamna  Lake,  and  Bristol  Bay,  northward  to  the  headwaters  of  the  streams  flowing 
into  the  Arctic  Ocean  north  of  the  sixty-eighth  parallel  of  north  latitude. 

District  3  include?  the  region  drained  by  the  streams  entering  the  Arctic  Ocean  north 
of  the  sixty-eighth  parallel  of  north  latitude. 


Map  of  Alaska  showing  fur  districts. 

REGULATION  2.— UNPRIME  PELTS. 

No  land  fur-bearing  animal  shall  be  killed  when  it^  pelt  is  imprime. 

REGULATION  3.— OPEN  SEASONS. 

The  black,  glacier,  and  cinnamon  bear,  wolf,  wolverine,  squirrel,  marmot,  varying 
hare  (rabbit),  and  Arctic  hare  may  be  killed  at  any  time. 

The  following  land  fur-bearing  animals  may  be  killed  in  the  specified  districts  during 
the  following  open  seasons: 
District.  J: 

Muskrat,  December  16  to  April  30,  both  date-;  inclusive. 

1  leaver,  December  1  to  March  31,  both  dates  inclusive. 

Marten  (American  sable),  November  16  to  March  31,  both  dates  inclusive. 

Mink,   otter  (land),  and  weasel  (ermine),  December  16  to  March  31,  both  date* 

inclusive. 
Kox  and  lynx.  December  1  to  February  28,  both  dates  inclusive. 
District  2: 

Muskrat,  December  1  to  May  31,  both  dates  inclusive. 

Beaver,    marten   (American  sable),    mink,    otter   (land),   and   weasel   (ermine), 

November  1(5  to  March  31,  both  dates  inclusive. 
Pox  and  lynx,  December  1  to  March  15,  both  dates  inclusive. 
District  S: 

Muskrat,  December  1  to  May  31.  both  dates  inclusive. 

Beaver,   marten  (American  sable),    mink,   otter  (land),   and  weasel   (ermine), 

November  16  to  March  31,  both  dates  inclusive. 
Fox  and  lynx,  December  1  to  March  15,  both  dates  inclusive. 


B.  S.  43.]  BUREAU    OF   BIOLOGICAL   SURVEY.  3 

REGULATION  4.— ARTIFICIAL  LIGHTS  AND  SHOOTING. 

The  killing  of  any  of  the  following  land  fur-bearing  animals,  viz,  white  fox,  blue 
fox,  red  fox,  cross  fox,  black  or  silver  fox,  mink,  marten  (American  sable),  weasel 
(ermine),  otter  I land;,  muskrat,  and  beaver  by  use  of  a  jack  or  pit  lamp  or  any  other 
artificial  light,  or  by  shooting  with  either  a  rifle,  shotgun,  or  pistol,  is  prohibited  at 
all  times. 

REGULATION  5.— TRAPS. 

The  killing  of  any  land  fur-bearing  animal  at  any  time  by  means  of  the  trap  or 
device  known  as  the  "klips,"  or  by  means  of  any  steel  bear  trap  or  any  other  trap 
with  ja^s  having  a  spread  exceeding  8  inches  is  prohibited. 

REGULATION  6.— DOGS. 

The  use  of  dogs  for  pursuing  and  killing  any  land  fur-bearing  animal  for  which  a 
close  season  is  prescribed  for  any  period  is  prohibited. 

REGULATION  7.— POISON. 

The  killing  of  any  land  fur-bearing  animal  by  means  of  strychnine  or  any  other 
poison  ie  prohibited  at  all  times. 

Note.— The  Criminal  Code  of  Alaska  Title  I.  chap.  13,  sec.  186)  provides  that  all 
persons  concerned  in  the  commission  of  a  crime,  whether  they  directly  commit  the 
act  constituting  the  crime  or  aid  and  abet  in  its  commission,  though  not  present, 
are  principals,  and  to  be  tried  and  punished  as  such.  By  this  section  any  person 
knowingly  sslling  poison  for  the  purpose  of  killing  land  fur-bearing  animals  is  a 
participator  in  the  crime  and  is  likewise  punishable. 

REGULATION  8.— SEIZURE  OF  SKINS. 

All  skins  of  land  fur-bearing  animals  killed  in  violation  of  these  regulations  found 
in  the  possession  of  any  person  in  Alaska  shall  be  seized  by  wardens  and  other  officers 
designated  by  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  or  other  officers  authorized  by  law,  and 
such  wardens  and  other  officers  shall  hold  said  skin3  for  such  disposition  as  shall  be 
ordered  by  the  court  having  jurisdiction  of  a  suit  for  condemnation  and  forfeiture 
thereof. 

Shipments  of  fur  from  Alaska,  whether  shipped  as  personal  baggage  or  otherwise, 
will  be  subject  to  examination  by  proper  authorities  and  may  be  detained  if  the  ship- 
ment was  made  in  violation  of  these  regulation-. 

REGULATION  9.— PENALTIES  FOR   UNLAWFUL  SHIPMENT  AND  TRANSPORTATION. 

The  following  statute  (act  Mar.  4,  1909,  35  Stat.,  1137-1138)  will  be  strictly  enforced: 

Sec  242.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  to  deliver  to  any  common  carrier 
for  transportation,  or  for  any  common  carrier  to  transport  from  any  State,  Terri- 
tory, or  Di-trict  of  the  United  States,  to  any  other  State,  Territory,  or  District 
thereof,  any  foreign  animals  or  birds,  the  importation  of  which  is  prohibited,  or 
the  dead  bodies  or  parts  thereof  of  any  wild  animals  or  birds,  where  such  animals 
or  birds  have  been  killed  or  shipped  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  State,  Terri- 
tory, or  District  in  which  the  same  were  killed,  or  from  which  they  were  shipped: 
Provided,  That  nothing  herein  ..hall  prevent  the  transportation  of  any  dead  birds 
or  animal-  killed  during  the  season  when  the  same  may  be  lawfully  captured, 
and  the  export  of  which  is  not  prohibited  by  law  in  the  State,  Territory,  or 
District  in  which  the  same  are  captured  or  killed:  Provided  further,  That  nothing 
herein  shall  prevent  the  importation,  transportation,  or  sale  of  birds  or  bird 
plumage  manufactured  from  the  feathers  of  barnyard  fowl.-. 
******* 

Sec.  244.   For  ea''h  evasion  or  violation  of  any  provision  of  the  three  sections 
last  preceding  the  shipper  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  two  hundred  dollar^:  the 


4  BUREAU    OF    BIOLOGICAL   SURVEY.  [S.  R.  A.,  B.  S.  43.J 

consignee  knowingly  receiving  such  articles  so  shipped  and  transported  in  vio- 
lation of  said  sections  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  two  hundred  dollars;  and  the 
carrier  knowingly  carrying  or  transporting  the  same  in  violation  of  said  sections 
shall  be  fined  not  more  than  two  hundred  dollars. 

REGULATION   10.— SHIPMENTS  OF  FURS  TO  BE  REPORTED. 

Shipments  of  furs  consigned  to  points  outside  of  Alaska,  which  may  be  made  at 
any  time,  should  be  reported  to  the  Bureau  of  Biological  Survey,  Department  of 
Agriculture,  on  appropriate  blanks  which  will  be  supplied  for  that  purpose. 

REGULATION  1 1 .— PEN ALTIES  AND  FORFEITURES. 

The  penalties  and  forfeitures  imposed  will  be  strictly  enforced  against  all  persons 
who  commit  acts  in  violation  of  law  or  the  regulations  promulgated  in  accordance 
therewith. 

On  and  after  September  1,  1921,  all  regulations  for  the  protection 
of  land  fur-bearing  animals  in  Alaska  made  and  published  by  the 
Secretary  of  Agriculture  under  authority  of  the  Alaska  fur  law  prior 
to  the  regulations  hereby  made  and  published  shall  be  and  are  hereby 
revoked. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the 
official  seal  of  the  United  States'  Department  of  Agriculture  to  be 
affixed,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  this  30th  day  of  August,  1921. 

[seal.]  Henry  C.  Wallace, 

Secretary  of  Agriculture. 


r-oei-rv  OF  FLORIDA 

■iliii 


WASHINGTON  :  GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE  :  1921 


